


Old Friendships and New

by Aly_H



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Cerberus - Freeform, Gen, Head-Canon, Reyes origin story, the romantic relationship is present but it isn't the story's focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 09:11:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13431561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aly_H/pseuds/Aly_H
Summary: Reyes Vidal led an interesting life even before he departed the Milky Way for Andromeda, and during that interesting lifetime he has had the pleasure of considering two separate AI's "friends".





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was struck by some of the similarities with the Collective and the Cerberus power structures and ended up getting hit with the idea of "What if Reyes had been Cerberus, and that's part of why he left the Milky Way?" And then this happened.
> 
> It's more of a "What if?" than a real head canon but it amused me so here we go.

“It is not very logical,” if she wasn’t an AI he’d have sworn that EDI was _pouting_. “You do not know that this ‘Initiative’ will be successful let alone if it will allow you to obtain maximum happiness.”

“That is why it is an adventure, my friend,” he chuckled warmly. He knew he was supposed to be impersonal with the Intelligence that aided in managing the _Normandy._ In the morning Cerberus would bring in the new pilot, or well, the old pilot – Shepherd’s pilot and he would be cut loose.

Hopefully.

Miranda Lawson was not quite as ruthless as some of the other top agents the Illusive Man had in his employ. And she had seemed to be supportive of his decision to enroll in the long-shot colonial expedition across dark space. Especially when she had considered the threats facing the galaxy _then_.

An insurance policy on the human race, even one with poor odds was better than nothing with the threat of the Reapers drawing ever closer and the illustrious Commander still at least a month from being woken up if all went correctly.

“You can have adventures in the Milky Way,” EDI argued.

He smiled faintly, “In Andromeda I might be able to _be_ someone.”

There was a long pause, he wasn’t sure that EDI would understand the concept, she was still an AI even if the long process of construction and testing this ship had built up a report between the two of them.

“The AI the Initiative is using is childish,” she announced at last. “…I will miss you.”

“No you won’t,” he smiled. “Tomorrow you’ll meet your real pilot, and you won’t remember me after that.”

“I remember everything, Reyes Vidal,” she chastised. “I will not forget you. You are saved in my memory core.”

It made him smile despite everything – there was something charming about the knowledge that someone would never forget him. He’d lived most his life alone and in the shadows, being nondescript but skilled a survival mechanism that had brought him into Cerberus’s employ some years ago.

Not that he believed the human superiority that was preached by the organization but they paid well and his skills were well appreciated. That the pay had stopped being enough to completely quiet the whispering of his conscience was as much a reason for joining the Andromeda Initiative as adventure and the chance to start again.

“I’ll remember you too, EDI.”

“I believe you are correct, assuming prolonged cryostasis does not negatively affect your cognitive functions,” the AI agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

“Ryder – your heart rate is elevated, should I alert Doctor T’Perro?” the mechanical voice sounds from over by the desk where the AI’s interface sits.

“ _SAM_!” Scott’s cheeks had gone bright red, his whole frame having stiffened in surprise at the voice. “ _No_ , don’t alert Lexi.”

“As you wish,” the AI concedes. “Shall I busy myself with other calculations? Suvi asked that I run some equations for her if I had the time.”

“Please do.”

Reyes covered his mouth trying not to laugh. He’d always suspected that Alec Ryder might have had a hand in developing the VI that had eventually become the AI they called EDI, and while SAM lacked the ability to actually tell a joke the development of a sense of humor seemed an essential component to all AI’s.

Even if the Pathfinder seemed to be the one suffering for it.

“Sorry,” Scott muttered, letting Reyes tuck him back beneath the warmth of his arm on the couch.

“It’s alright, Scott,” he smiled, hitting play on the movie they’d curled up to watch.

As much as he might’ve liked to take push further regarding the elevated heart rate Scott was exhausted after his efforts to maintain the Eos outpost and the moment the tension had gone out of the younger man he fell asleep cuddled against Reyes.

Gently, careful not to wake the Pathfinder he rearranged it so his lap rather than his shoulder was serving as the pillow.

It left Reyes with time for his own thoughts – and to wonder, for once, if Miranda and the rest of them had been successful. Had Shepherd truly saved the galaxy or did everything he ever known lay in ashes? Had the Illusive Man continued to spiral further out of control?

The connection to the Milky Way had yet to be established. If there was no one to receive the signal on the other side of the com beacons it would explain why they had yet to hear anything.

SAM’s console brightened a little, the voice soft as it commented, “Scott is happier when with you. Are you happier with him?”

“I am,” he told the intelligence, keeping his voice soft as he stroked a hand down Scott’s arm.

A quiet moment before, “Does it bother you that we are linked on such a fundamental level? Many humans seem to become uncomfortable with in the presence of an A.I. being.”

“You don’t bother me, SAM,” he answered. “I am glad you are with him, he needs someone to take care of him when I can’t.”

“His well-being is my priority,” the AI agreed. “…thank you, Reyes Vidal.”

Childish, EDI had called the machine that worried over its Pathfinder’s happiness. And perhaps SAM shared some of that bright-eyed naïveté that made Scott have a smile for anyone he spoke to. He couldn’t help but think that had she ever met SAM she would have found those qualities endearing.

“Thank you too, SAM.”


End file.
